Cathedrals, mills and mines : essays in the history of medieval technology and resource use

The ten essays in this work are a result of a conference devoted to the study of medieval technology in April 1995.

Taken together, they seek to dispel the public misinterpretation that medieval people somehow had to toil in a world bereft of technical innovation and ingenuity.

The authors of the papers show the Middle Ages not only to be a time of considerable technological development, but also the ways in which the technologies of building construction, manufacture and metallurgy were shaped by broader forces of culture, social identity, political ambition and the local environment.